1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display panel and a method of manufacturing the same. More particularly, the present invention relates to a display panel having a reduced manufacturing cost and a method of manufacturing the display panel.
2. Discussion of the Background
Generally, a liquid crystal display includes an array substrate, a color filter substrate facing the array substrate, and a liquid crystal layer interposed between the array substrate and the color filter substrate.
The array substrate includes a plurality of pixels to display an image therethrough. Each pixel includes a gate line, a data line, a thin film transistor, a storage line, and a pixel electrode. The gate and data lines receive gate and data signals, respectively, and are coupled to gate and source electrodes of the thin film transistor, respectively. The pixel electrode is coupled to a drain electrode of the thin film transistor.
The color filter substrate includes a color filter layer and a common electrode. The color filter layer includes red, green, and blue color filters. The common electrode is arranged on the color filter layer and faces the pixel electrode with the liquid crystal layer being interposed between the common electrode and the pixel electrode.
The array substrate may be manufactured through a process using five masks or a process using four masks. In the five mask process, an active layer and an ohmic contact layer of the thin film transistor are patterned using a different mask from that used to pattern the transistor's source and drain electrodes. However, in the four mask process, the active layer, the ohmic contact layer, and the source and drain electrodes of the thin film transistor are sequentially patterned using only one mask. As a result, the four mask process is simpler than the five mask process.
The array substrate completed through the process using four masks includes a storage capacitor that is defined by a storage electrode, a pixel electrode, and an insulating layer interposed between the storage electrode and the pixel electrode as the capacitor's dielectric. In order to increase the storage capacitor's capacitance, the insulating layer may be partially recessed toward the storage electrode. However, when the insulating layer is recessed, an amount of liquid crystal filled in the recessed portion of the insulating layer increases.